Peter’s Porch at Faith United Lutheran Church in Denver has been feeding the hungry for the last seven years while building up the community.

The first Saturday of the month at the church is the place to be for folks and organizations from multiple towns and counties. If someone cares, they are there — the mayor is there, the president of the Cocalico School Board is there. They come from different churches, denominations, and municipalities. Whatever opinions, problems they have with each other during the week or at local government meetings, it’s left at the door of Faith United because of one common goal: to feed the hungry.

“One out of every four children in the Cocalico area goes to bed hungry, that’s scary,” said Terry Burkholder, Peter’s Porch lead coordinator.

Since the abundant fields of Cocalico are not necessarily seen as a home to hungry, those impacted by poverty are often under served.

“We know we are only scratching the surface of people who have need here,” said Joe Verse, pastor of Faith United.

Cocalico School District officials are usually aware of hungry families.

“We do see a lot of homeless children; they may be living with grandparents, in hotels, or out of cars,” said Allen Dissinger, school board president.

While the day serves its purpose to feed people, it also helps identify people who have other needs.

“I try to talk to the people,” said Burkholder. “One said: ‘You’re the first person I’ve talked to in two weeks.’”

For seniors, especially, it is not unusual for some to not see or speak to anyone frequently.

“There was an older lady who couldn’t (physically) make it here, so I would take the groceries to her,” said Sue Henkel, who hasn’t missed volunteering a Saturday except when she had knee surgery. “I would check on her every day.”

Henkel and Veres were concerned that the hungry not just get food, but nutritious food, and the food is not old or all canned, as might be assumed.

As the hungry gain food, is their soul left to starve?

Since Peter’s Porch receives much of its food from the government, in adherence to government guidelines, prayer is not permitted during food distribution, which is from 8 to 10 a.m.

Volunteers and recipients pray at 7:45 a.m. before the program begins.

“My attorney background was not wasted by becoming a pastor,” said Veres, who was an lawyer for 25 years before becoming a pastor.

Veres was asked further about meeting spiritual needs during the distribution of government food. He replied in attorney-like fashion by answering a question with a question.

“A couple months ago, a lady came up to me and said, ‘My husband has brain cancer, will you pray with me?’

“I’m not going to do that? I’m not supposed to do that because other people may see me praying inside a church?”

Veres said people want to know others care about them.

“They have enough things that will make them cry; they have few things that will make them laugh,” said Veres. “Church is about joy; it’s about joy in life, that’s the way it should be.”

“The strongest proclamation of the Gospel is when they see Christ in us, not in our words,” he said. “It’s about sitting across the table and having a cup of coffee and listening to somebody. It’s community building — that’s what Christ did.”

The recipients at Peter’s Porch get choices. They go to the registration table and get a number so the distributing is fair and not chaotic. When theirs is called, take a shopping cart and go through stops, like grocery shopping. The program feeds about 130 families a Saturday which amounts to 350 to 400 individuals.

“On any given month, we probably have 6,000 pounds of produce, and we hand out 250 bags of groceries, so that’s about 3,000 pounds of dry goods we give out a month,” said Burkholder.

“We can always use more food,” said Veres. “We had a truck load of food today, and look at the table — it’s gone.”

The program hosts 40 volunteers the first Saturday and 27 a week night before that Saturday.

“It takes 27 people to pack 150 bags in one hour,” said Burkholder, who volunteers 50 hours a month to the cause he started with his wife.

“My wife (Judy Dewald Burkholder) was the inspiration to start this program, and she passed (aggressive brain cancer) three months after we started,” said Burkholder.

“I’m committed to do this for the rest of my life.”

Many of the recipients and volunteers knew each other. Unlike what one might see at a city food bank, many from each side of giving grew up together, are related, or know each other simply because it’s a more rural, tighter community.

They joked with the volunteers while they were doing the announcements; they sat with each other.

“I like the way the clients who come take the time to connect with each other, look out for each other,” said Tim Boronow, volunteer from a group from Cocalico Community Church. “They are willing to help each other, I appreciate that about them.”

The Cocalico community is building up itself from all sides and this can’t happen if neighbors don’t know their neighbors, participants say.

“When we were approached to do this, the first question was, can we do this, do we have the resources,” said Veres. “The bigger question was, can we not do this, can we not take on this ministry?”

Veres spoke in context of reaching middle age and evaluating his life goals.

“You can have all the success in the world and then you look at your life,” said Veres. “My wife worked with children with learning disabilities. None of my clients showed up at my door step and said: ‘Do you remember me doing a tax return?’

“Kids in high school would show up at our door and say: ‘Mrs. Veres, do you remember me?’”

Veres didn’t want to measure his life by his house and cars.

“There was a day that I realized when I had my own practice and was making good money, but I didn’t like the boss,” said Veres. “I was the boss. You get to a place when you realize there’s something more to life. We don’t do this for the money because this is where the richness of what life is about.”

Susan, from Denver Borough, lives in a house with 10 adults which include her children and grandchildren.